Related papers: Density perturbations in the Ekpyrotic Universe an…
We analyze the general conditions on the equation of state $w$ required for quantum fluctuations of a scalar field to produce a scale-invariant spectrum of density perturbations, including models which (in the four dimensional effective…
These lectures present a brief review of inflationary cosmology, provide an overview of the theory of cosmological perturbations, and then focus on the conceptual problems of the current paradigm of early universe cosmology, thus motivating…
I analyze the density perturbations in a cosmological model with a scalar field coupled to ordinary matter, such as one obtains in string theory and in conformally transformed scalar-tensor theories. The spectrum of multipoles on the last…
We consider the ekpyrotic paradigm in the context of loop quantum cosmology. In loop quantum cosmology the classical big-bang singularity is resolved due to quantum gravity effects, and so the contracting ekpyrotic branch of the universe…
The string-dominated universe locally resembles an open universe, and fits dynamical measures of power spectra, cluster abundances, redshift distortions, lensing constraints, luminosity and angular diameter distance relations and microwave…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
We investigate the cosmological perturbation theory and calculate the perturbation spectra in the warm $k$-inflation. Unlike the scalar perturbations of $k$-inflation in the cold inflationary scenario, entropy perturbations should be…
We investigate inflationary models leading to density perturbations with a spectral index $n>1$ (``blue spectra"). These perturbation spectra may be useful to simultaneously account for both the amount of ultra large-scale power required to…
We obtain cosmological constraints on models of inflation which exhibit rapid roll solutions. Rapid roll attractors exist for potentials with large mass terms and are thus of interest for inflationary model building within string theory. We…
We consider the non-commutative inflation model of [3] in which it is the unconventional dispersion relation for regular radiation which drives the accelerated expansion of space. In this model, we study the evolution of linear cosmological…
The spectral index is studied at the point where scalar fields deviate from slow-roll during inflation. Considering the deviation that may cause a significant difference to the time derivative of the Hubble parameter and also to the terms…
In a recent paper we proposed a mechanism for a continuous transition between a contracting Ekpyrotic phase and the Standard Big Bang phase of expansion: the bounce is generated by an S-brane which represents the effects of higher mass…
A sufficiently rigid relativistic elastic solid can be stable for negative pressure values and thus is capable of driving a stage of accelerated expansion. If a relativistic elastic solid drove an inflationary stage in the early Universe,…
We study the evolution of non-linear spherically symmetric inhomogeneities in string cosmology. Friedmann solutions of different spatial curvature are matched to produce solutions which describe the evolution of non-linear density and…
We examine the processes of quantum squeezing and decoherence of density perturbations produced during a slowly contracting ekpyrotic phase in which entropic perturbations are converted to curvature perturbations before the bounce to an…
We describe a numerical simulation of the evolution of an $S_3$ cosmic string network which takes fully into account the non-commutative nature of the cosmic string fluxes and the topological obstructions which hinder strings from moving…
Cosmic strings provide a radically different paradigm for the formation of structure to the prevailing inflationary one. They afford some extra technical complications: for example, the calculation of the power spectrum of matter and…
We investigate the effects of cosmological expansion on the spectrum of small-scale structure on a cosmic string. We simulate the evolution of a string with two modes that differ in wavelength by one order of magnitude. Once the short mode…
The Standard Model is the low-energy limit of a microscopic theory which includes extra dimensions and new symmetries. A part of my thesis consisted in constructing a new class of models with two extra dimensions. We showed that these…
We study cosmological perturbations in models with a single non-local scalar field originating from the string field theory description of the rolling tachyon dynamics. We construct the equation for the energy density perturbations of the…